Small-town ways and big-town problems in Westport

If Jack Sisson wasn't running a good-old-boys operation in the Westport Highway Department, then no one ever has run one.

"Just'a good ol' boys/Never meanin' no harm/Beats all you never saw/Been in trouble with the law/Since the day they was born."

— Waylon Jennings

You had to think of that country music classic the last few days when reading about Jack Sisson and his approach to doing town business over in the Westport Highway Department.

Especially after state Inspector General Gregory Sullivan recommended the Westport townies refer his investigation of Sisson's ways to Bristol County District Attorney Sam Sutter and the state Ethics Commission.

If Sisson wasn't running a good-old-boys operation in SouthCoast's version of West Virginia, then no one ever has run one. Sisson, who was just re-elected by the good people of Westport a couple of months ago, was engaged in "questionable conduct" in a number of areas, according to the inspector general.

Sisson was apparently not following state bidding requirements regarding the purchase of sand and highway equipment, giving away "numerous" truck loads of town cold patch, chip seal stone, gravel and granite in some kind of informal bartering system, and my personal favorite, providing "de-rocking" and landscaping services for some 11 days on the property of former Westport selectman Liz Collins.

There must be a lot of town folks who would like their properties "de-rocked," courtesy of the town. Maybe there should be a sign-up list at Town Hall.

Sisson's explanations of his actions "raise serious questions about his honesty and integrity as an elected public official," wrote Sullivan.

And yet, and yet.

The Westport selectmen seemed to have a hard time looking more deeply into what Sisson was up to.

Maybe it's just small-town guys not knowing what to do when faced with a rogue, but popular, townie. Selectmen Chairman Dick Spirlet (formerly the New Bedford Police Department spokesman and a local conservative radio host) says he will only back a forensic audit (an audit aimed at searching for fraud) if the District Attorney's Office recommends it.

You can't have three different people in charge, he said.

But isn't there something to be said for the town moving forward with its own investigation as a check and balance against possible political influence on the DA?

Spirlet and the other selectmen did support providing training for town departments in learning bidding procedures — a process apparently long overdue in Westport. But the selectmen's decision to make all departments seek approval from the town accountant and administrator for their purchases looked like they were avoiding the fact that the problem is in the Highway Department.

We're not talking about small change here — Sullivan slammed Sisson for giving away more than $3,600 worth of cold patch, more than $5,300 worth of "clean" and "dirty" stone and $950 worth of gravel.

Sullivan's report said a highway foreman says he told Sisson the cold-patch giveaway "involved 'Buddy Cianci' politics and that you could go to jail for doing it."

Sisson denied all.

But a private contractor told the inspector general that three or four years ago, he installed a sewer system and shrubs at Sisson's home for a cost of roughly $1,400 to $1,600. The same contractor told the IG he plows snow for the Highway Department.

Selectman Dutra noted that several years ago, a UMass review of Westport government and an in-house accounting review both concluded the highway surveyor and other town elected posts should become appointed jobs.

Since the 1950s, when most town government consisted of volunteers, Westport has tripled in size to 15,000 and now has a $30 million budget.

"At best, you have a department that is poorly managed. At worst, you have a criminal enterprise," Dutra said.

But don't hold your breath for Westport to change. Change isn't easy for small towns, and there's no shortage of good old boys and girls who apparently like Westport running just the way it does.

Contact Jack Spillane at jspillane@s-t.com.

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